Salto AB won the competition for Tallinn City Theatre Quarter in the Old Town

30.03.2018

Tallinn City Theatre is one of the most renowned and biggest theatre companies in Estonia. The theatre is based in a unique medieval building complex of sixteen interconnected houses in the Old Town of Tallinn and through the years they have developed a prominent blend of traditional and contemporary repertoire. However, the theatre has struggled with their spatial limits since its beginning in 1966 and announced a competition to redesign the whole quarter.

Salto AB project set to its goal to conserve the exceptional medieval heritage while fulfilling contemporary spatial requirements of the popular theatre. Therefore, the design adds to and resonates with the existing spatial diversity. Characteristically the Tallinn City Theatre quarter is centred around numerous small units that function in various combinations, the new design creates new exciting in- and outdoors spatial settings through a broad body of multiple fragments. Thus, one of the focus points is the courtyard, that is surrounded by the Old Town walls and towers for summer plays and concerts, that could seat an audience up to 500 people and a 300 m2 stage. Moreover, a new glass pavilion in the narrower part of the courtyard will connect new stages, audience and service areas of the theatre. In addition to the renewed open-air stage, the new design will enlarge the capabilities of current Hell Theatre stage up to 350 seats and a new black-box with 130 seats.The jury of the competition highlighted that Salto AB’s project has integrated the best practices of clearly differentiating and uniting historical and contemporary architecture by their use of material as well as exciting and inviting spatial restructuring, openness and comprehensive integrity. The new interior design brings focus to natural materials, green walls and atriums with views to underground sites.